What Now?
by Madd Aless
Summary: E/O Challenge raw 1000 words The final moments and beyond. A little what could come next after the final scene of the season 7 finale.


What now?

E/O Challenge **raw** 1000 words

The final moments and beyond. A little what could come next after the final scene of the season 7 finale.

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A/N the first part in italics is basically a transcription of the final scene with Crowley if you feel you remember it clearly feel free to jump to the actual story. I seem to be a little stuck and am really looking forward to our new season.

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_In the final moments after Dean had stabbed Dick Roman, Sam had turned away shielding Kevin as behind him the head Leviathan had pulsed with a weird energy before exploding. Now there was an eerie silence. Lowering his arm and turning back to the room he saw black goo everywhere but no signs of anyone else no Dick, no Castiel, and worse yet no Dean. _

"_Sam we should go," Kevin said_

"_What the Hell," demands Sam looking around frantically._

"_More Chompers any second Sam," reminds Kevin fearfully._

_Then Crowley appeared out of nowhere, "Not to worry."_

"_I have a small army of demons outside. Cut off the head and the body will flounder after all," smirks Crowley as Sam continues to stare, "Think it you'd had just one king since before the first sunrise. You'd be in a kafuffle too."_

_Sam reaches the logical conclusion and demands, "Which is exactly what you wanted."_

"_So did you" accuses Crowley. With a sniff Crowley continues, "Without a master plan, the Levis are just another monster. Hard to stop. Sure. But you love a challenge. Your job is to keep them from organizing."_

"_Where's Dean?" Sam had asked Crowley tensely._

_Crowley had once again equivocated, "That bone has a bit of a kick. God weapons often do. Should put a warning on the box."_

"_Where are they Crowley?" Sam had once again demanded._

"_Can't help you Sam," said Crowley before snapping his fingers. Glancing toward Kevin, Sam confusedly sees two demons appear. What is going on he wonders only to hear Crowley say "Sorry Sam, prophet's mine," as Kevin and the demons just vanish._

_Angrily turning back Sam faces Crowley only to hear, "You got what you wanted. Dick's dead. Saved the world. So I want one little prophet." Crowley shrugs at Sam's dismay. "Sorry Moose. Wish I could help. You certainly got a lot on your plate right now. Looks like you are well and truly on your own" with a snap of his fingers Crowley vanishes leaving Sam standing in the middle of the wrecked lab._

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That had been a few days ago. _'Looks like you are well and truly on your own.' _Sam couldn't get Crowley's taunt out of his mind by now had lost track of how many times he'd called for Castiel. He'd begged and pleaded till he was hoarse. He tried summoning the angel. Heck, he'd even tried praying as hard as could in spite of having almost entirely lost his faith. It didn't seem to matter. There was no response from Cas and there was no trace of Dean. Sam hadn't been able to summon Meg either so he had to assume Crowley had taken her back to Hell.

Crowley had said he couldn't help so Sam had to assume that meant Dean wasn't in Hell. Crowley had also said he was on his own and that appeared to be true since all his searching and calling for Cas had proven fruitless which rather implied that neither Cas nor likely Dean either were still on the face of the Earth. That kinda left one possibility. Dean and Cas had vanished together and as Cas was an angel who should return to Heaven if his vessel was destroyed Sam was left with the only logical conclusion that Dean was dead and now in Heaven with Cas.

Sam wished there was a way to bring his brother back. He missed Dean so much he'd occasionally wake thinking his loss was just a nightmare but then he looked around wherever he was and realized there was no Dean and none of his stuff. He'd thought about it a lot and even tried to do some research, but every time he started he kept hearing Bobby's words about when it was time to go then go.

Sam wondered when the raw aching wound of Dean's loss might ease. He'd tried drinking and while it left him temporarily numb and able to sleep the next morning the pain was back along with a hangover and more memories of Dean's teasing.

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After killing most of the Leviathans he'd decided he was leaving the hunting life. He'd had too many close calls without Dean to guard his back. Yes, he'd tried before when he'd left for Stanford but he'd always felt that twinge of guilt and fear for leaving Dean behind. In fact the only reason he'd been able to do so was because he'd thought that Dad would have Dean's back no matter what. He'd gone solo when soulless but that had been different for two reasons. One there'd been the Campbells and Bobby for backup if needed and now he was truly on his own now. Secondly and more importantly he really hadn't cared if he or anyone else got killed as longer as he took out as many monsters as possible. He'd also gone solo and gotten into serious trouble trying to get revenge after Dean went to Hell.

Why should he continue hunting anyway? All his 'real' reasons for hunting were gone now. Revenge for Mom, Jess, and Dad was done since yellow eyes and the whole Lucifer's vessel mess should be over now. That revenge had been the motivation behind the 'family business' and it was gone along with all his family. He'd lost everybody that had really mattered to him to hunting in one way or another that didn't mean he wouldn't defend himself if the supernatural was stupid enough to come after him but it did mean he had no real reason to continue fighting the war that had dictated his life until now.

Hunting solo was dangerous. Should he get out now? Could he leave the life? Sam realized he was tired. Tired of living hand to mouth, day-to-day, scam to scam. Maybe it was time to step back and see what life was like outside of hunting. Get a job, a life, a home, and maybe even a dog or a girl.

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Disclaimer: The supernatural characters are not mine; they belong to Kripke and the CW. I am making no financial gains and am just speculating on where the new season could begin.


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